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Indian protests over rape victim turn violent

TONY EASTLEY: Protests over the brutal rape of a 23-year-old woman in India's capital New Delhi turned violent at the weekend, with police using tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds.

Thousands of protesters took control of central New Delhi, demanding the government do more to protect women.

The young woman was beaten and raped by as many as six men and then thrown from a moving bus.

South Asia correspondent Michael Edwards reports.

(Crowd noise and chanting)

MICHAEL EDWARDS: Thousands of protesters poured into central New Delhi, and the police were waiting.

Cars were overturned and set on fire; police were pelted with rocks.

Injuries occurred on both sides of the picket line; mainly students.

The protesters say women aren't safe and more must be done to protect them.

SACHI, PROTESTOR: It's not about just the death penalty, or what punishment you want to give to this crime.

It's about how relationships between men and women and the entire gender spectrum is placed.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: The 23-year-old woman who was attacked in South Delhi last week remains in hospital in a serious condition.

Six men have been arrested - three have reportedly confessed that they raped the woman on a bus, bashed her, and then threw her onto the road.

Sexual assaults are an all too common problem in India, and along with being the political capital, New Delhi also has the unwanted title of being the rape capital of the nation.

New Delhi's chief minister Sheila Dikshit says laws need to be toughened and police need to start making the prevention of sexual assault a priority.

SHEILA DIKSHIT: Why, in a civilised society, in a civilised city - capital of this country - why has this happened?

You need to change laws, make them more stringent.

You need to change the system of judgements, make them much faster.

We need to change the behaviour of the police above all; make them more sensitive, more, you know, caring - come out with an impression that "I feel comfortable with the policemen" rather than being uncomfortable with them.

And society needs to raise its voice.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: It's estimated there are more than 600,000 rapes every year in India.

The rate of sexual assault has risen by 700 per cent over the past three decades.

This latest incident has galvanized public opinion that something needs to be done about the problem.

The head of India's ruling Congress Party, Sonia Gandhi, has made public assurances that rape cases will be made easier to prosecute and that the police will conduct more patrols to protect women in public places.

Retired Indian High Court Judge, R.S. Sodhi, says rapists are holding the country to ransom.

R.S. SODHI: We have to unite to fight them. We must stop being spectators and try and become responsible citizens and this will stop.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, is yet to make any significant public statement about the rape of the young woman.

Doctors are confident she will survive but the extent of her injuries is so bad that they are considering a multiple organ transplant.

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